How much pre-engaged planning do you do?

[StacylikesSparkles]

Well, if you hide the dress even if you're eloping, you;ll just need to make sure you have that 'ah-ha' moment by letting him get ready first and then taking over the bathroom (door shut) and coming out all Bo-Derek like with your hair swishing (sans braids, unless that is your thing lol) with the whole BAM moment ensuing afterwards...that could actually be pretty fun and make it feel more 'wedding'.

 

[audball]

Well, if you hide the dress even if you're eloping, you;ll just need to make sure you have that 'ah-ha' moment by letting him get ready first and then taking over the bathroom (door shut) and coming out all Bo-Derek like with your hair swishing (sans braids, unless that is your thing lol) with the whole BAM moment ensuing afterwards...that could actually be pretty fun and make it feel more 'wedding'.

That's true. I guess it depends on the dress itself too and how it zips or laces up. Some things I may be able to manage getting on by myself with practice. Others would be impossible to do so. Something to keep in mind while shopping I guess!

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

Very true! You may need a helping hand Only you know the best decision for you...what I know is that I can't wait to hear more about it and see your dress!!

 

[audball]

Very true! You may need a helping hand Only you know the best decision for you...what I know is that I can't wait to hear more about it and see your dress!!

Aww, you're too sweet One of these days I'll get around to shopping...I'll be sure and post a thread when I do!

 

[vc10um]

DH and I were penciled in at our ceremony and reception venues more than 2 months before the proposal...

I stayed away from dresses (at least from trying them on) until he put a ring on it, though!

 

[maple2012]

Speaking of pre-engaged planning... I found the song I want played while I walk down the aisle!!! Honestly. This is IT. And live too please, with a Cello and Piano man. Haha. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgaTQ5-XfMM I might have cried a little while watching the performance. Beautiful.

 

[antiquesparkler]

DH and I were penciled in at our ceremony and reception venues more than 2 months before the proposal...

I stayed away from dresses (at least from trying them on) until he put a ring on it, though!

Penciling in seems reasonable. My friend would have sent ‘Save the Dates’ but her mom intervened.

I wasnt trying to pass any judgement on anyones planning.

 

[lin_ny]

Speaking of pre-engaged planning... I found the song I want played while I walk down the aisle!!! Honestly. This is IT. And live too please, with a Cello and Piano man. Haha. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgaTQ5-XfMM I might have cried a little while watching the performance. Beautiful.

Beautiful indeed! I love instrumentals and I love cello/strings. I would love a string quartet at my wedding!

 

[vc10um]

DH and I were penciled in at our ceremony and reception venues more than 2 months before the proposal...

I stayed away from dresses (at least from trying them on) until he put a ring on it, though!

Penciling in seems reasonable. My friend would have sent ‘Save the Dates’ but her mom intervened.

I wasnt trying to pass any judgement on anyones planning.

Oh no worries. I guess I should've used this smiley instead: since it's actually smiling! DH and I knew what we wanted in a wedding and the church we chose and the reception venue we chose were pretty much the only ones that checked all our boxes. So I didn't want to lose out, since I knew we wanted to get married on our anniversary.

But if you ask my mother, I was mentally ill for doing so.

 

[Chewbacca]

Speaking of pre-engaged planning... I found the song I want played while I walk down the aisle!!! Honestly. This is IT. And live too please, with a Cello and Piano man. Haha. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgaTQ5-XfMM I might have cried a little while watching the performance. Beautiful.

Beautiful indeed! I love instrumentals and I love cello/strings. I would love a string quartet at my wedding!

Twilight! (Guilty pleasure!)

 

[antiquesparkler]

Love that song and twilight. Oops! Closet nerd here. Hehe

The instrumental is beautiful! Adding that to my song list. Not that I have one...

 

[hippi_pixi]

Im not engaged yet but we have everything booked! venue, photog, musician. BM and GM sorted. i've even chosen a dresss. we have a second wedding in india my inlaws are planning that people have already been invited to. and our engagement party is booked for April 6!

so i hope there is a proposal before April 6!

 

[maple2012]

You caught me!!! The love for that song I posted was secretly due to me being a Twighlight nerd. I can't help it!!! I like it even though I won't share that with anyone... tehee!

I really like this venue too: http://www.nestldown.com/images/nestldown/showit.swf

 

[C.P.]

About 5 months before he proposed, we had a tentative wedding date and location. About a month or so before he proposed, which was about a year ahead of our wedding date, we went ahead and booked our lodging, wedding package, and wedding dinner (at a restaurant) because we noticed some things we were looking at were already beginning to get booked up near our wedding date and didn't want to miss out, as our wedding date is a special day for us. Around the same time we put together a tentative guest list, and let some of our family know of our plans. Since it is a destination wedding we wanted them to have plenty of time/notice to save up for travel expenses even if we weren't in a position to get engaged just yet (or so I thought).

As for wedding gowns, I started browsing online, but that's it.

 

[CaprineSun]

I have been looking at dresses for years. Then Pintrest came along & it became worse. I now have a few solid ideas of what I want. I haven't tried on any dresses yet. (oops, I did email a few designers)

I recently bought my shoes. I'm not even engaged. It was a great deal, so I couldn't pass it up.

I've narrowed it down to 2 venues I would love to hold my wedding. However, I have not made any calls, visits, or emails. I'm thinking about contacting them soon, though because with the way SO is holding out on proposing, I believe my planning time will be very short.

I've had my 'dream' photographer picked out for over a year.

I might have already tried designing invitations on websites.

My SO & I might have made a rough budget of what we would like for our wedding & it was to say the least.

Writing it all out, it seems I have done more pre-planning than I thought. But, seeing that I have never made a visit or called to schedule anything, I don't really feel like I'm planning just yet, since I'm not engaged. However, all this *non-planning* will make things go more smoothly once he finally puts the ring on my finger. lol

 

[cygnet]

You caught me!!! The love for that song I posted was secretly due to me being a Twighlight nerd. I can't help it!!! I like it even though I won't share that with anyone... tehee!

I really like this venue too: http://www.nestldown.com/images/nestldown/showit.swf

HAHAHAHAHA okay it's a really gorgeous venue, but the third picture in the slideshow... I can't stop giggling at that goose's FACE!

 

[Chewbacca]

You caught me!!! The love for that song I posted was secretly due to me being a Twighlight nerd. I can't help it!!! I like it even though I won't share that with anyone... tehee!

I'm a secret fan too. Well, as secret as going to all of the midnight screenings can be!

I almost contacted a photographer for a quote last week, but I didn't feel entirely comfortable with going that far yet. I also happened upon a florist I might like. Like some of you ladies, I'm hoping all of this 'pre-planning' will serve me well when I am planning in a short time frame! SO's FSIL told me during the weekend that she went into her five month long engagement with NO ideas, and she is suffering for it!

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

I almost contacted a photographer for a quote last week, but I didn't feel entirely comfortable with going that far yet. I also happened upon a florist I might like. Like some of you ladies, I'm hoping all of this 'pre-planning' will serve me well when I am planning in a short time frame! SO's FSIL told me during the weekend that she went into her five month long engagement with NO ideas, and she is suffering for it!

When do you think SO will pop the question? If you think it'll be within the next 6 months and you'll be married within the next year, I think it's totally appropriate to get a photographer's quote. Good photographers get snapped up pretty quickly!

 

[Chewbacca]

I almost contacted a photographer for a quote last week, but I didn't feel entirely comfortable with going that far yet. I also happened upon a florist I might like. Like some of you ladies, I'm hoping all of this 'pre-planning' will serve me well when I am planning in a short time frame! SO's FSIL told me during the weekend that she went into her five month long engagement with NO ideas, and she is suffering for it!

When do you think SO will pop the question? If you think it'll be within the next 6 months and you'll be married within the next year, I think it's totally appropriate to get a photographer's quote. Good photographers get snapped up pretty quickly!

You raise a fair point!

 

[antiquesparkler]

You caught me!!! The love for that song I posted was secretly due to me being a Twighlight nerd. I can't help it!!! I like it even though I won't share that with anyone... tehee!

I'm a secret fan too. Well, as secret as going to all of the midnight screenings can be!

I almost contacted a photographer for a quote last week, but I didn't feel entirely comfortable with going that far yet. I also happened upon a florist I might like. Like some of you ladies, I'm hoping all of this 'pre-planning' will serve me well when I am planning in a short time frame! SO's FSIL told me during the weekend that she went into her five month long engagement with NO ideas, and she is suffering for it!

I may have gone to a midnight screening... or 3.

I think it's reasonable to get a quote. I have actually started pricing some caterers... ooops. Lol. I am just really struggling with whether we should have the ceremony (about an hour from where we live and about 2 and a half hours away from most of his family) with just our close family and friends (about 35) then just go to a nearby resturant on the water for a nice meal AND THEN a couple months later have our BBQ reception and invite EVERYONE (about 125) or if we should just do it all on the same day... ceremony and then BBQ reception.... but then the reception (which will be in our city) will be an hour from the ceremony... ish. My thought is to spread it out... less stress and SO feels bad asking some people to travel twice. But I really want a small intimate ceremony and I'm afraid of this whole thing turning into a circus.

So yeah... I am trying to price out the two options... resturant meal for 35 plus BBQ for 110 or BBQ for just 110.

Ahhh... who said this was fun?!

Anyway, I would totally get a ballpark for the flowers, photographer and anything else you have your heart set on... sounds like you will have a short engagement and at least this way you will know budget-wise and also when it comes time to plan, you will have a head start!

 

[Chewbacca]

YOU ENABLERS! I emailed a photographer, and a caterer.

antiquesparkler - I like the 35 people ceremony + nice dinner, and a big BBQ later. I've always liked the sound of that kind of set up. I guess the prices will decide for you!

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

YOU ENABLERS! I emailed a photographer, and a caterer.

Lol...hey, if you KNOW you're marrying the guy and this isn't just some fantasy in your head, I am ALL FOR being prepared! You really will be less stressed when it comes down to actual planning, since you at least will know where you're headed with things. This will allow you to revel in your engagement for a bit instead of heading straight into 'OMG, must start planning!' mode.

 

[antiquesparkler]

Chewbacca,
I LOVE that set up as well! SO doesn't want to take up 2 weekends for everyone... Puh-leaze... they dont have to come if its an inconvenience.

I think it will just add $1000 to the budget. Not too much.

I guess this IS his wedding too... lol.

Hehehe! Yes, I am an enabler! I think you will be really glad you are doing some research now.

 

[Chewbacca]

I'm pretty glad I did it, the photographers price was much higher than I anticipated! Thank you enablers! I'm on a roll (role?) now, too. Weeee!

 

[pandabee]

I'm pretty glad I did it, the photographers price was much higher than I anticipated! Thank you enablers! I'm on a roll (role?) now, too. Weeee!

sooooo new plan or just more saving up to do?

 

[Chewbacca]

I'm pretty glad I did it, the photographers price was much higher than I anticipated! Thank you enablers! I'm on a roll (role?) now, too. Weeee!

sooooo new plan or just more saving up to do?

I guess I'll pester a few more photographers at some stage first! So far I've got quotes from two different places for similar sized packages - $3700 and $3200!

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

Have you asked if they would be willing to work with you in regards to a certain budget? I got a quote from my photographer and flat out said I could not justify the pricing. I told her what I was willing to spend and we ended up making an AWESOME deal with her. You never know until you ask! Also, check around with your friends and see if they have a new photographer just getting into the business. My photographer was just starting out in regards to weddings for the public (I was her first client who wasn't a friend), but she had done other weddings and a ton of gorgeous photos for engagement, family shots, maternity, etc. She was 'new' to the public, but has been doing her thing for years with people she already knew. AND she was amazing!

 

[Ms_Lovely]

Well, I love Pinterest but I can't use it right now because I don't want my friends to know what I'm up to
So right now, I have an 83 pg. word document that is serving as my wedding board

Thus far, we've decided on a tentative budget date and possible venue. We'll be touring the venue and taking deposit money with us at the end of March. I've contacted several restaurants and caterers and discussed food. We already have a top pick that fits our vision and our budget.

We've chosen colors

We know what kind of ceremony we want

We have a guest list and wedding party list

We've designed invitations and already purchased them we just need to choose the venue and finalize the invite design

We've purchased sky lanterns that will be released during the reception

We've chosen a theme

We've chosen wedding favors

We've chosen the wedding style

We've got a tentative wedding schedule

When we get our tax refund, I'll be purchasing the boutonnieres, cake topper and some other decorations from etsy

I've already spoken to a wedding planner (we can't afford her for day of but she will help us coordinate and organize for an hourly rate)

We've decided on our signature cocktails

We've got a wedding website that I'm getting ready

We've decided what to ask for in lieu of traditional gifts

We have a good idea about a photographer to use but I still need to contact and haggle for a price

 

[antiquesparkler]

Hi Ms. Lovely!

Pinterest has secret boards...


No one can see your Pins... check it out!

I might have a secret board or two...

 

[Ms_Lovely]

Hi Ms. Lovely!

Pinterest has secret boards...


No one can see your Pins... check it out!

I might have a secret board or two...

Ooh! I didn't know about that! It'd be much easier to use pinterest